with Andrew Dalton, White Dalton Motorcycle Solicitors
Q I WAS ON a semi-off-road tour and had booked overnight accommodation in a fairly basic hotel. One of the group had the idea of putting our wet kit in the boiler room.
I asked a young lad where the boiler room was and he pointed towards it. While none of us said we were planning to put our kit in there to dry, it was obvious we were going to. The door had a sign that said ‘no entry to guests’ but we felt we had implied permission.
I went first and couldn’t find a light switch, missed a worn-out step on my way into the partially‐basement room, and fell with my hands full of wet kit and MX boots. I cracked a couple of ribs.
At first, the hotel owners couldn’t do enough to help, driving me to A&E which was a good 40 minutes away, and they let me store my bike in a garage and got me to the railway station the next day so I could get a train home. Guilty conscience or acceptance they had done something wrong, I wonder.
I wrote to them politely, asking for compensation for the incurred cost of my train fare home, my ruined tour, van hire and fuel to pick my bike up, and two nights’ lost accommodation, as well as compensation for my injuries. I got a snooty solicitor’s letter back basically telling me to jog on and mentioning there might be storage charges for my bike. I have done my research and the hotel owner owed me a duty of care under the Occupiers’ Liability Act, under which broken ribs are worth £5000.
My two riding mates have left me high and dry and don’t want to be witnesses. They use the hotel frequently, so value it more highly than me, and they have ditched me from our WhatsApp group.
I have spoken to a few ‘no win, no fee’ solicitors but they don’t seem interested. Should I bring a claim?
A SO, LET’S BREAK this down. You went – uninvited – through a door you accept was clearly marked as not being for guests. You stepped into an unlit boiler room with your hands full of wet kit, which no one had told you to do, and when you hurt yourself, the owners of the hotel bent over backwards to help you as they are decent human beings, rather than feeling guilty or being worried about getting sued.
The help they gave you will play to their favour in front of any judge. No judge will impute guilt – or indeed anything negative – from this, and as a matter of law the judge cannot impute liability from offers of help. Some people help other people bec
